Is She Dead Yet?
Is She Dead Yet?
She was coughed as the air of Mars made it difficult for her to breathe. Although it was not deadly, it was an uncomfortable environment for an unusual creature like her.
*Cough, cough*
"Why is this place so terrible? Where are we now?"
"Put on your life-support collar!" Hao Ren reminded her loudly, but he had no time to explain things. "Watch out! That thing's coming again!"
The strike of the pan did not injure the evil spirit; after it crashed down and flipped across the ground a few times, the evil spirit bounced back up into the sky. Its long, red hair fluttered despite the still air. The cold Blood Mist around her was forming into a storm, however she was not as unbridled as before. Facing Vivian, her dark eyes finally revealed a hint of shaken confidence; she flew around and rumbled angrily in the air as if she was in a state of great hysteria. Everyone had been confused about the situation but they were too afraid to do anything. They just watched as the monster went bananas. Meanwhile, Vivian furrowed her eyebrows before she shapeshifted into a vampire with the same chill air and Blood Mist around her. "...What is this? Where did you find this thing?"
"I don't know! It just came out of the magic book!" Lily shouted. "I've been wanting to ask you what's happening—why does that thing look exactly like you? You have another clone other than Hessiana?"
"Look exactly like me?" Vivian was dumbstruck, looking at the evil spirit who was flying aimlessly not far away. "How do you know it looks like me? That thing's faceless!"
Ready for another round with a spear in his hand, Hao Ren was dumbfounded when he heard what Vivian said. "What did you just say? Faceless?"
"Yeah," Vivian replied, pointing her finger at the faceless figure she saw. "It's a shadow, it's faceless. I've never seen an otherworldling like it!"
Everyone was surprised. They invariably looked at the red-haired "Vivian" who clearly had a face. Vivian was the only one seeing otherwise: to her, that thing was just a dancing body of mist with the figure of a human!
They had no time to figure out the details. The evil spirit seemed to have suddenly regained its consciousness. It was charging at them again, more ferociously this time. If her previous attacks were somewhat elegant and gentle, now, she was simply a bloodthirsty beast in pursuit of destruction. Sensing the dire situation, Hao Ren immediately stood in front of them. "Save your breath, let's finish it off first!"
Hao Ren used his silver spear's plasma flare and wounded the evil spirit. But he quickly felt his vitality drained from his body when the evil spirit touched him. He swiftly dodged the creature mid-air while Lily, who wielded her Frostfire Claws, came up in his place. Behind them were Y'zaks and the Nangong father-son duo, who were ready for a spell offensive.
The evil spirit was so powerful and strange that wherever her eyes landed and fingers pointed, there would be a trail of destruction left behind. Even the Steel Membrane Shield could not hold much longer. Fortunately, Hao Ren had drawn the monster away from populated areas before he let the MDT teleport them to this desolate place. Otherwise, when the red moon shone, it would be a catastrophe!
Although Vivian had not figured out the situation, the tacit understanding among the team members had enabled her to react quickly. As Lily wielded her Frostfire Claws and engaged the enemy, Vivian began to summon a powerful lightning storm. A large group of bats circled the air, creating two tornadoes simultaneously. Hovering mid-air, Vivian ordered the two tornadoes to converge. Meanwhile, she could see in her peripheral vision that Lily had thrust her claw into the enemy's body. "Doggie, hold that thing up!" Vivian shouted.
Lily had no clue what Vivian's intent was, but she obliged by lifting her claw together with the spirit. The next moment she found out; a thunderbolt had struck her.
A powerful current ran through the body of the evil spirit and down Lily's Frostfire Claws. Lily instantly lit up like a torch. She dropped to the ground and looked like a Chow Chow with dark hair. The husky was furious. "Battie! You're a psychopath!"
"I've done the Math. You'll be fine!" Vivian felt no guilt—she had absolute confidence in her ability to control the precise amount of force to use.
Meanwhile, the evil spirit took 99 % of her Lightning Storm's force. Just like the pan attack, she was blown hundreds of meters out before disintegrating in the air in a violent burst of red mist. She suffered a heavier blow this time. Immediately, Y'zaks noticed something. "Let Vivian deal with it! She can control this monster!"
"I'm not so sure..." Vivian charged at the spirit with her swarm of bats. "…but you can count on me!"
Seeing the swarm of bats flying towards her, the red-haired "Vivian" wailed as if she was frightened. The ground began to decay, blacken, and char under the corrosive Blood Mist. An unstable magical energy filled the air. Vivian (the genuine one) seemed to be ignorant of all this. She went directly for the enemy.
The Lightning Storm was bursting with lightning and ear-splitting explosions for a while. Soon, all the commotion died down as the bats returned into Vivian's body. She looked at the scorched pit on the ground, frowning. "Is she dead yet?"
"Dead?" Hao Ren was shocked. He came up. "I was thinking about capturing her alive…"
A dark pit was left after the battle of the two "Vivians". The were no visible traces of the evil spirit except a pool of red liquid, flowing slowly at the bottom of the pit. It was as if the stubborn thing was still alive. Lily cautiously tossed a small rock into the red liquid, but there was no reaction.
The liquid gradually subsided, as though it had lost its last signs of vitality before it turned into a pool of blood, just like the residue of blood magic.
Gaping into the pit for a long while, Nangong Sanba began to feel a chill run up his spine. "What is that thing?"
Hao Ren knitted his brows together and went down the pit. Taking out a small metal tube and collecting the liquid, he said, "I don't know... but my gut feeling tells me that it's wise to collect some samples if you don't know what it is."
Vivian found the pan on the gravel that she had thrown out, saddened by the dent on the pan. "I was thinking to make Rollie some egg cake... by the way, what were you guys doing? Why did you guys start a fight with that thing? Where is this place?"
"Before I answer your question, may I know how you come here?" Hao Ren was even more perplexed than Vivian was. "Do you know how far this place from home?"
"I don't know," said Vivian, shrugging. "After I gave Rollie a bath at home, she demanded egg cakes. So I went into the kitchen to make them for her, and realized that you guys were gone. I went out to look for you and saw a glowing pentagram in a circle behind the house. I went up to it check it out. Next thing I knew, I was already here."
Done with the explaining, Vivian frowned and looked at the desolate world around her. "What the hell... It feels like an alien planet."
"You're right. This really is an alien planet," said Hao Ren. He did not know where to begin. "This is Mars."
Vivian. "What?"
"It's a long story," said Hao Ren, scratching his head. He knew it was not only because of Lily's recklessness, he had to take part of the blame for it too. "You still remember that magic book... Actually Lily and I were doing a test."
Vivian was stunned.
Just as she was about to ask, Lily suddenly beckoned them to the side of the hill. "Can you people talk later? There's a situation here!"
Nangong Sanba looked up. "What situation?"
Like a brigand spotter, Lily stuck her head out the side of the hill. "Dang it! Looks like there's a rover..."